Vacuum cleaner



Sept. 10, 1929. I J TUTEUR 1,728,021

VACUUM CLEANER Filed June,-6, 1927 Inventor JuHus Tuteur,

His Attorneg Patented Sept. 10, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JULIUS TUTEUR, 0F CLEVELAND,.0HIO, ASSIGNOR TO ELECTRIC VACUUM CLEANER COMPANY, INC., OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

VACUUM. CLEANER.

Application filed June 6,

The present invention relates to vacuum cleaners and has for its object to provide a small, light weight, efiicient cleaner which can be used for a great variety of purposes.

For a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention, attention is directed to the accompanying description and the claims appended thereto. In the attached drawing which is illustrative of my invention, Fig. 1 is a perspective View of my improved cleaner; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the shoe detached from the cleaner; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a part of the nozzle, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing another arrangement for connecting the handle to the cleaner.

5 indicates the ,nozzle having suitable front and rear lips 6 and 7 against which the rug, carpet or other surface is adapted to be drawn by suction of the fan, when the cleaner is in operation. Directly back of the nozzle and in communication therewith is the fan casing 8, the nozzle and casing being cast as a unit. To reduce the weight as much as possible these parts are made of aluminum. As an indication of the size of the cleaner the overall length of the nozzle is five and one-quarter inches. The overall length of ,the cleaner exclusive of the bag is seven and a quarter inches. Inside the casing is a fan shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and having a plurality of outwardly-extending vanes 9. Secured to the back of the fan casing by suitable screws or bolts is the aluminum housing 10 of a small high speed electric motor. 11 indi- "cates the field magnet structure, 12 the field winding, 13 the armature and 14 the shaft therefor. The shaft is supported in suitable ball bearings contained in housing 10 of which the rear one 15, is shown. The motor casing is provided with suitable ventilating openings 16. The fan casing .is

provided with an outlet or discharge conduit 17 through which dust-ladened air is discharged into the porous filter bag or receptacle 18. The means for supporting the ha and maintaining it in its distended condition are not claimed herein as they form 1927. Serial No. 196,731.

the subject matter of a separate application for patent.

Located inside of the nozzle on a horizontal spindle 19 is a revolving brush20 which is driven by a quarter turn belt 21 from a pulley 22 mounted on the front end of the motor shaft. The s indle is mounted in ballbearings located in housings 23 carried by the end walls of the nozzle, the housings being held in place b screws 24; By loosening the screws the brush and its bearings can be removed by an endwise movement. The cleaner can be used either with or with out the brush but for most purposes it should be used.,

Permanently mounted on top of the cleaner is a handle 25 which is preferably tubular and ofinsulating material in order to re ceive the conductors 26 and the controlling snap switch 27, the latter being located on the underside of the handle where it can be actuated by the finger of the operator. The conductors which are made of so-called flexible cord have an attachment plug 28 at their outer end for connection to a source of current supply and a branch 29 leading to the motor terminals. The handle is su ported by front and rear brackets 30.ma e of pressed metal, one of which is secured to the fan casing and the other to the motor casing. To the front bracket is secured a sheet metal cross-member 31 which supports a rest 32 and on which a thumb of the operator rests and by .means of which the cleaner can be tilted when necessary, in the cleaning operation.

Unless care is exercised in operating a vacuum cleaner, especially one intended to be moved by a handle fixed thereon, the operator is liable not to keep both the front and rear" lips of the nozzle in contact with the surface being cleaned. Failure to do so seriously impairs the efiiciency of the machine. To prevent this and also to permit of the cleaner being used for cleaning floor coverings after the fashion of ordinary cleaners, a flat bottom shoe 35 is provided and which can be quickly and easily detached. The shoe which maintains the nozzle in a normal operating position in parallel relation to the surface being cleaned, is shaped like a flatiron withthe tapered or pointed end located at the rear and slides on the surface being cleaned. The front end 15 attached by two pins 36 which freely enter small holes or 0 )enings 37 in the rear wall of the nozzle. ising from the shoe is a means for connecting it to the motor. It comprises a fiat strip of metal bent to form a saddle 38 and is supported by legs 39. Secured to the saddle is a spring chp 40 the ends of which grip the motor at two places above the axial plane of the shaft and thus detachably unite the motor and shoe. To prevent relative slippage of the parts in an axial direction, the same screw or pin 41 which unites the saddle and spring also enters a small registering opening in the motoror more strictly the motor housing. The under surface of the shoe is provided with three rollers 42 which may for simplicity be of the same character as those used on trucks and are exposed only on the underside. Of these rollers two are located at the front and one at the rear. These rollers are particularly serviceable when the cleaner is being used for floor coverings and the second handle used as will be referred to later. The axes of the front rollers may with advantage be located in the same vertical plane as that of the brush axis. To do this the front of the shoe is provided with ears 43 which support the roller and also engage the ends of the nozzle, the latter feature serving as an additional securing means for the shoe and thus relieving the pins 36 1 of some of their load.

The cleaner as thus described is handled in about the same manner as a flat iron, the shoe serving to keep the nozzle lipsin their proper operating relation to the surface being cleaned, and being smooth on the bottom the operator can follow any curvature of the article being cleaned, as for example the seat covering of an automobile or chair. For some kinds of work, the shoe is unnecessary and for that reason I so construct and ar-. range it that it can bequickly detached' and attached. In other cases part of the object may be cleaned with the shoe in place and the remainder without it.

For very small apartments the ordinary cleaner-is too large "and in order to utilize my improved cleaner for floor coverings a suit-able handle 44 is provided which can be easily attached to and disconnected from the.

shoe. To provide for this the shoe is provided with a bridge piece 35 which is located at a point approximately under'the center of gravity of the motor. The advantage of this over placing it at the rear end of the shoe resides in the fact that the pressure on the cleaner as a whole in mov ing it back and forth is applied at a nearly central point. If the point of connection of the handle is too far to the rear the pressure exerted thereby has a tendency to cause the rear end of the cleaner to be pressed into the surface and the front end to rise. On the bridge is a lug 45 and embracing it on two sides are the legs of a clevis 46, the latter being secured to the handle. To en able the handle to be. quickly attached and spring tension which withdraws the pins and releases the handler As shown in Fig. 4 the shoe and motor are connected by the saddle 38, legs 39 and screw 41. In this case, the motor clamping spring 40 of Fig. 1 is omitted and screw 41 is relied upon to hold the parts together. The rollers 50 are located in open slots instead of being wholly underneath as before. The handle 44 has two arms 51 which form a bail. The outer end of each arm is provided with a small opening to receive a fulcrum pin 52 which is permanently mounted in the upper part of the saddle and its support. The arms while stiff in the direction of movement of the cleaner when propelled by the handle are sufliciently elastic to permit of their being sprung over the pins 52.

As above indicated, the cleaner is very small and of light weight, as shown, weighing including all of the cord and exclusive of the handle 44 a little less than five pounds. As a result it can be used for long periods of time without undue fatigue of the operator. The cleaner can be operated in three principal ways, first by the handle 25 with the shoe in place, second by the handle 25 without the shoe and third by the handle 44 with the shoe in place. Such a construction results in an all-purpose cleaner and as such has a wide variety What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A supporting attachment for a vacuum cleaner having a transversely extending nozzle and a rearwardly extending motor casing, comprising a shoe adapted to lie under the motor casing at the rear of the nozzle and to engage and move over a surface to be cleaned, means carried by the front end of the shoe for engaging and supporting the nozzle in substantially parallel operative relation to the surface to be cleaned, and means carried by a rear portion of theshoe providing a releasable locking connectiop therewith for the motor casing to support the latter and hold the of uses which need not be:specificallyenumerated? r r W 1,7as,o21 A cleaner against axial to thh shoe.

2. A movable support for a vacuum cleaner having a transversely extending exposed suction nozzle and a rearwardly extending motor casing connected therew1th, said support comprising a shoe having a fiat bottom adapted to move over a sur ace to be cleaned and a front end which is adapted to extend along and releasably engage the rear of the nozzle to support the latter in operating relation to a surface to be cleaned, and having'a rearwardly extending portion which lies beneath the motor casing when said front end engages the nozzle, and means for detachably connecting said rearwardly extending portion of the shoe with the motor casing.

3. A movable support for a vacuum cleaner having a transversely extending exposed suction nozzle and a rearwardly extending motor casing connected therewith, said support comprising a shoe having a flat bottom adapted to move over a sur ace to be cleaned and a front end which is movement with respect adapted to extend along and releasably engage the rear of the nozzle at two spaced points to support the latter in operating rlation to a surface to be cleaned, and having a rearwardly extending portion which lies beneath the motor casing when, said front end engages the nozzle, and means for detachably connecting said rearwardly extending portion of the shoe with the motor casing whereby a three point connection with the shoe is provided for the vacuum cleaner.

4. A movable support for a vacuum cleaner having a transversely extending exposed suction nozzle and a rearwardly extending motor casing connected therewith, said support comprising a shoe havin a flat bottom adapted to move over a sur ace to be cleaned and a front end which is adapted to extend along and releasably en-' gage the rear of the nozzle to support the latter in operatin relation to a surface to be cleaned, and aving a rearwardly extending portion which lies beneath the motor casing when said front end engages thenozzle, and a motor casing support and spring cli for detachably connecting said rearwardl'y extending portion of the shoe with the motor casing.

5. A movable support for a vacuum cleaner having a transversely extending exposed suction nozzle and a rearwardly extending motor casing connected therewith, said support comprising a shoe having a fiat bottomadapted to move over a surface to be cleaned and a front end which is adapted to extend along and engage the rear of the nozzle to support the latter in operating relation to a surface to be cleaned, and having a rearwardly extending portion which lies beneath the motor casing when said front end is in engagement with the nozzle, a supporting'means for the motor casing adapted to provide a releasable connection between the latter and the rearwardly extending portion of the shoe, and means in said connection for preventing transverse and axial I movement of the shoe relative to the'motor casing. y

6. A movable support for a vacuum cleaner having a transversely extending ex posed suction nozzle and a rearwardly extending motor casing connected therewith,

said support comprising a shoe having a flat bottom and means which are adapted to enter the rear wall of the nozzle when the shoe is moved axially of the cleaner into engagement with the rear of the nozzle, and having a rearwardly extending portion which lies beneath the motor casing when the nozzle is engaged thereby, a supporting means for the motor casing carried by the last-named portion of the shoe, and releasable means carried by said supporting means for engaging the motor casing and holding the same against axial movement with respect to the shoe when supported by said last-named means.

7. A supporting attachment for a vacuum cleaner having a transversely extending exposed suction nozzle and a rearwardly extending motor casing connected therewith, said attachment comprising a shoe which is adapted to move over the surface to be cleaned and hold the suction end of the nozzle in a normal operating position substantially parallel therewith, said shoe hav ing a fiat bottom and a front end which is adapted to extend along and connect with the rear of the nozzle to support the latter and having a rearwardly extending portion which is adapted to lie beneath the motor casing, a support for the motor casing adapted to provide a connection between the last-named portion of the shoe and the motor casing, and means carried by the support for engaging the motor casing to prevent transverse and axial movement of the cleaner relative to the shoe.

8. A support for a vacuum cleaner having a transversely extending exposed suction nozzle and a r'earwardly extending motor casing connected therewith, said sup port comprising a shoe which is adapted to move over the surface to be cleaned and to connect with and hold the nozzle in a normal operating position substantially parallel therewith, said shoe having a rearwardly extending portion which lies beneath the motor casing when said shoe is connected with the nozzle, means for releasably connecting the last-named portion of the shoe with the motor casing, and means carried by the shoe at a point substantially vertically in line with the center of gravity of the motor to which a detachable operating handle may be connected.

9. A supporting attachment for a vacuum cleaner having a transversely extending exposed nozzle provided with front and rear walls, said nozzle being adapted to operate in substantially parallel relation to a surface to be cleaned and having a rearwardly extending motor casing connected therewith, said supporting attachment comprising a shoe adapted to lie under the cleaner at the rear of the nozzle, projections carried by the front end of the shoe which enter the rear wall of the nozzle to engage and support said nozzle in operative relation to the surface to be cleaned, a support-for the motor casing mounted on the shoe, and means for releasably connecting the support with the motor casing, said means serving to lock the cleaner and shoe against relative movement, whereby the projections are held in en-' gagement' With the nozzle.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 24: day of May, 1927. JULIUS TUTEUR. 

